4am - 4Jan and i'm off on Winter Adventure. #3, key word being 'adventure' and never known to disappoint. all went fine with a minor delay in Miami waiting for a different plane to arrive, arriving in Belize only 45min behind schedule, it's 3:15pm. At Immigration, the young officer looks at me, looks at my passport photo, looks again at me and smiles. i have never found the Belizean Immigration Officials to be anything but grumpy. in an attempt to make pleasant conversation, i offer that i was younger then. he smiles and says 'yes'. i explained to him that that wasn't very nice; he said he shouldn't lie; i say little white lies are sometimes ok; he acquiesces. welcome to Belize! but at least i was able to break his facade :) i had packed plastic totes with art supplies to take to Madi. Preparing to go through Customs, i could hardly expect them to believe that my 9 plastic storage totes were part of my daily normal activities so i had to 'declare'. this didn't make much different in the line or time, since Belize Customs decided they needed more money and, at least today, searched every bag, even in the "Nothing to Declare" line. an hour later, after paying a 30% duty fee, i exited the building to find the taxi that Madi had arranged for me, that loyally had been there waiting for me for over an hour! Pascal and his 4yr old son, Pascalito ('ito' being smaller or tiny version of his pappa) took me to the Water Taxi. it is not uncommon here for taxi drivers to have a 'bring y
our child to work day' ...everyday. Pascal was very nice. i asked him how he knew Madi. he said, "good people know good people who know other good people". i liked that!
around 4:45pm i boarded the Water Taxi with 40+ others while the luggage and boxes were loaded as well. it's always pretty tight inside the boat and today was no exception; and the man in the yellow shirt obviously not happy.
i seemed to be at the end of the line, but i saw a space 'back there'. vacant i realized, because a racoon was sitting on the bench with his owner. taking up the room of at least another 3 people.
ok, it was young raccoon, on a leash with it's owner. being the 'animal-loving brave-soul' that i am, i took my seat next to the raccoon. the kids and owner were playing with it, and like a kitten it was biting and scatching. unfortunately, my upper arm got in the way and it got a little bite. i was wearing a long sleeve shirt, nothing serious, it didn't break the skin; but i decided to ask the people across from me to scooch over a bit so i could sit and watch the raccoon from a little further distance.
speeding through the water on our way to Caye Caulker for about 5min, the boat abruptly slows and idles; the gas and oil fumes waifting through the cabin. something is going on, we don't know what, a few minutes later we take off again ... much slower. at 5pm, we stopped ... no explanation was given, ...and none was really needed. we waited for our 'rescue' boat to appear, and appear it did, and pulled up along side of us.
and eventually we moved to our 'rescue boat', our cargo was transferred and everyone was happy to be on our way ... well, except the man in the yellow shirt.
we cruised along at a pretty good pace; but it seemed to be taking forever. ...and then, ....again ...we slowed and stopped. yes it's true, i have not 'lost my place' in this story ... this is our 'rescue boat'. the guys appeared asked the 8 people that were sitting on one of the 4'x 6' engine covers to move; as they removed it, billows of black smoke, steam, and fumes filled the cabin. we all covered our mouths, they tinkered with the engine; and eventually we were on our way again. Pulling away a little faster than row-boat speed, we left our boat behind.
we were rewarded with a beautiful sunset.
....which reminded us all that we should have been there a long time ago .... it's normally a 40min ride. we left at 4:45, it's now 6:30 and will be dark soon; what a nice evening for a leisurely boat ride, ... it was taking forever!!!!!!! we finally pulled up to the dock at Caye Caulker just as it was starting to rain. we waited in the rain on the dock to make sure our belongings were unloaded, because the boat and some unfortunate people still had to continue on to Ambergris Caye, another 'normally 30min' ride. i am glad i was not one of them. Madi had another taxi driver waiting, patiently, for me. Luloo loaded my luggage on a golf cart and i was finally 'home ... it was 7:30 !
it was so good to see Madi. i always forget how tiny she is, i feel like a giant when i give her a hug. first on the agenda was trying to locate Nicole, another volunteer from San Fran; who had arrived via an express water taxi from Chetumal Mexico (with no delays). however, she didn't know where to go, and was wandering around the streets with her backpacks. Luloo found her and Madi took us to the Cabana to meet Neil, a vet student, from the UK that had been volunteering at ARCUS, a wildlife rescue center in Guatemala..
we stood around and visited for awhile, when Nicole finally asked if anyone was hungry .... i was starving, but didn't want to be rude. over dinner, i spent the rest of the evening orienting and educating Nicole about Caye Caulker as i ate my first meal of 2 small red snappers! there was no lobster on the island tonight ... seas were too rough today. i hope that changes soon! Nicole is an almost-animal-rights-attorney, turned vet student. very nice girl who had to take a cold shower last night in Mexico, and couldn't wait to get back to Madi's and take a nice hot shower. i had to be the one to break the news to her; ... no hot showers here either :(
Madi had 'my room' ready for me, i took a nice cold shower and fell into bed.
